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At age 13, I lived in Germany. I was enrolled in a dance academy to learn ballroom and Latin dancing. For a shy foreign girl, who loved music, this was at the same time heaven and hell. It was more than delightful to my cartesian mind to be in a musical setting. As I shared previously, mom made us learn to play the piano at a young age. I missed playing an instrument, and hey, a piano is rather a bulky one! But I was shy of people, especially when I didn't have a trusted adult around me to introduce me to the local social habits and constructs. I was lucky to have kind teachers who loved to teach dance above all, and soon I picked up the pace and performed quite well. Dancing was more than a sport to me. It is an expression of what the beat of the tune I am listening to is communicating to me. Because of my deep connection to music, whenever I hear a melody that speaks to me, closing my eyes is enough to transport me to a magical world, and without even noticing, I would start tapping with my feet to the rhythm. If this went on for more than a few moments, I would just start moving my body to the cadence, regardless of the space and/or crowd. More than a decade later, I was at a nightclub when a guy who had been ogling me for a while asked me if I would join him for a salsa. I had barely said yes when he took my left hand and twirled me around. After being startled for a moment, the joy of moving to the song overcame me. Then, all of a sudden, that skinny and tall fellow flipped me, head down and legs up, while firmly holding my waist, and then back up and we continued dancing amidst the clapping of people around us. I had not expected that dance to go that way. It was simply great! I was so taken aback that I didn't realize that a ring my mom had given me had fallen off my finger until we had left the club. I made a few calls, and luckily, my ring was returned to me the next day... And I received a few calls to join a semi-professional dance group that performed at weddings. It was flattering but I couldn't accept. For one, I was working on my career in business. And on a second note, my father being a priest, I couldn't embrace such a line of work. Besides, I used to go out dancing almost daily back then and didn't think I would ever need to change anything about it. How wrong I was...
Some quotes about dancing:
Dance is music made visible - George Balanchine
To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful - Agnes de Mille
The dance is a poem of which each movement is a word - Mata Hari
Dance is an art, paint your dream and follow it - Steven Thompson
Dance is the hidden language of the soul - Martha Graham
While I dance, I can not judge. I can not hate. I can not separate myself from life. I can only be joyful and whole. This is why I dance - Hans Bos
There are shortcuts to happiness and dancing is one of them - Vicki Baum
Dancing is not reserved for professionals or a certain age. You just need to take in the music in your veins and become one with it. By doing that, you rewire your brain and experience happiness that can last long after you have disengaged yourself from the beat...
